After a bruising midterm election, MAGA influencers are scrambling for signs that their youth movement still has a pulse. Their preferred evidence consists largely of Texas Rep. Brandon Gill and incoming Wisconsin Rep. Michael Alfonso, two survivors of the blue wave that swept through the elections.

The celebration has the unmistakable air of a postelection grief session. Turning Point USA leaders and other MAGA personalities are presenting Gill and Alfonso as proof that their movement remains vibrant, even as the broader election results point in a far less flattering direction.

That effort comes after another rough cycle for candidates endorsed by Turning Point. The organization watched its preferred contenders take a bath at the ballot box, yet its leaders are still trying to project confidence and authority as they look toward the next Congress.

Gill and Alfonso have consequently been handed an enormous symbolic burden. MAGA world is counting on the pair to carry its mantle forward, giving the movement two youthful faces to showcase after an election dominated by Democratic victories.

Gill secured reelection in the heavily gerrymandered 26th District of Texas. His victory allowed him to withstand the blue wave that washed across the state, making him an especially convenient figure for conservatives searching for something to celebrate.

His political identity is closely connected to MAGA conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, Gill’s father in law. D’Souza helped launch Gill’s political career, while Gill has developed his own reputation for spewing unabashed racism.

President Donald Trump has already offered an expansive assessment of Gill’s prospects. Trump said Gill “could very well be the future” of the Republican Party, praise that neatly fits the postelection effort to elevate him as one of the movement’s leading younger figures.

Alfonso, meanwhile, will arrive in the next Congress with a distinction guaranteed to attract attention. At 26, the Wisconsin Republican will be the youngest member of the House.

He is also another Trump endorsed candidate and a political newcomer. Alfonso received Turning Point’s endorsement and has said Charlie Kirk largely inspired him to seek public office, further strengthening his appeal to a MAGA youth operation eager for a success story.

Alfonso is the son in law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. His campaign also received large donations from numerous transportation industry executives, including some who do not appear to have ties to Wisconsin.

Together, Gill and Alfonso are being marketed as the Republican Party’s newest young stars. They offer the boyish faces MAGA influencers want after a campaign season in which the movement’s favored candidates repeatedly failed to produce the victories Turning Point and its allies wanted.

The larger results make that sales pitch look especially strained. The election figures included Democrats winning control of the Senate with 54 seats to Republicans’ 44, while an MS NOW estimate placed the House at 256 Democrats and 170 Republicans.

The governor results also favored Democrats, with 28 Democratic governors compared with 20 Republicans. Against that backdrop, the attempt to turn two House winners into evidence of a thriving national youth movement resembles a search for consolation more than a display of political dominance.

Still, MAGA influencers have settled on Gill and Alfonso as the pair capable of carrying their cause into the next Congress and beyond. One is an incumbent from a heavily gerrymandered Texas district, and the other is a 26 year old newcomer who drew major support from Trump and Turning Point.

That is apparently enough for a movement badly in need of fresh material. The youth project may be on life support, but its promoters are already polishing two crowns and insisting the kingdom remains in excellent condition.

The real test will be whether Gill and Alfonso fare better than the previous rising conservatives who received similarly glowing attention. MAGA world has declared them its newest young guns, but the blue wave surrounding their victories makes the coronation look considerably less triumphant.